After five bigwigs in Beijing's elite circle fell into their trap, I fled.

Chapter 250 The Grand Elder Arrives

The lights were very bright.

But Li Yubai's expression was somewhat unreadable.

He casually fiddled with the ring on his ring finger and chuckled softly.
"So, compared to me, does the sugar daddy love Ali more?"

Jiang Shu's already sorrowful mood suddenly plunged her into a dilemma:
“Back when Ali was still alive and you were nowhere to be found in the Devil’s Triangle, I missed you so much.”

Li Yubai: "..."

Jiang Shu looked at him seriously: "He's dead, so don't be jealous of him."

"As expected, the one who died was the ultimate white moonlight!" Li Yubai sighed softly, but his tone did not show any disappointment, but rather a suppressed pleasure. "It's okay, think whatever you want, I won't compete with him."

"Li Yubai, you will always be so virtuous." Jiang Shu said, her voice filled with emotion.

Li Yubai hummed in agreement, feeling slightly more at ease. He sat lazily in his chair and began to coax him gently:

"The night is long and I'm bored anyway. Why don't you tell me more about Ali, sir, so I can have a good listen?"

His expression was clearly aloof yet gentle, but his languid demeanor made Jiang Shu momentarily lose her senses.

“Ah Li always seemed like a spineless person, lazily standing and sitting without any proper posture, but being with him was incredibly relaxing. You could say anything and dare to cause any trouble.” Jiang Shu’s eyes couldn’t hide her longing. “Later, when he died in the submarine disaster, Rong Jingchen told me that he had investigated Ah Li and said that although he was prone to causing trouble a few years ago, his daily words and actions still had a very aristocratic air about him. He wasn’t so lazy to the bone, nor was he so extremely capricious, and his speech wasn’t so sarcastic. So he suspected that it wasn’t the same person…”

Li Yubai: "Hmm? What does the sugar daddy think?"

"Do you even need to think about it? It's definitely the same person. People's personalities change more or less as they grow up. Ali must feel more relaxed and at ease with me, which is why he's become more carefree." Jiang Shu sighed matter-of-factly. "Not only him, but you, Yan Yu, Rong Jingchen, and even Ning Yunzhan, aren't they all very different in front of me than they are in front of others? It's all because of my personal charm!"

"Which Ali do you prefer, my patron? The one Rong Jingchen mentioned, the one with the aristocratic air, or the one you spend every day with?"

“Of course it’s the one in the back!” Jiang Shu glanced at Li Yubai. “It’s not just him, it includes you too. Before I met you, other people said you were ruthless and indifferent, but in my eyes you were the most virtuous and generous, gentle and reserved, and you looked like a god, making people want to ravage you but dare not really desecrate you.”

Li Yubai covered his lips with his hand and coughed lightly: "Torture is also acceptable..."

"See? You're so lenient with me that you can't bear to refuse any of my requests." Jiang Shu looked apologetic. "Are you so good to me because you raised me when I was little?"

“No. My patron, there’s something I need to make clear.” Li Yubai said seriously, “You and I are not related by blood at all. As for raising you when you were a child, it was just because I wanted to.”

"Then you know about my background?"

"If I told you that the moment you learned about your origins, you were obligated to live in the Misty Continent..."

"No need, I'm very satisfied with my current life." Jiang Shu felt a chill run down her spine at the thought of spending decades in that strange place, Piaomiao Continent.

Li Yubai looked at him gently: "Yes, I don't like that place either."

“Let’s get back to Ali. Li Yubai, when I miss Ali in the future, could you occasionally make soup that tastes terrible, like you did today, so that I feel like he’s still alive…” Jiang Shu habitually poured water. “Of course, during the month you disappeared, Ali and I ate like we were eating grass every day. I missed you terribly back then…”

Li Yubai nodded: "Okay."

"Can I eat spicy snacks occasionally in the future? When I eat spicy snacks, I'll feel like he's right next to me..."

"..." Li Yubai's expression was complicated. "You can only eat one at a time."

"One..." Jiang Shu hesitated. "If it were Ali, she would at least let me eat two."

Li Yubai gave a soft "hmm" and asked in return, "Then I'll go and switch your Ali back?"

Jiang Shu's eyes suddenly reddened! "Li Yubai, you're not allowed to joke with me like that again!"

Li Yubai gazed at her intently for a long while before sighing, "Okay."

The next day, just as dawn broke, an uninvited guest arrived at the villa.

When Jiang Shu saw the Grand Elder who had once insisted on keeping her in Misty Continent, she instinctively hid behind Li Yubai.

The elder met Li Yubai's gaze, his arrogance softening slightly: "I mean no harm, I just want to talk about building houses in Misty Continent."

Li Yubai glanced at him indifferently: "Come in."

The elder sat down in the living room, looking rather reserved.

Jiang Shu and Li Yubai sat on another sofa. She looked at Li Yubai, and Li Yubai gently leaned close to her earlobe and spoke in a very low voice:
"Don't be afraid, he can't beat me."

Jiang Shu relaxed a bit, but still reflexively moved even closer to Li Yubai.

Li Yubai held Jiang Shu in his arms with one hand and peeled melon seeds for her with the other, not looking directly at the Grand Elder: "Let's get down to business."

The Grand Elder produced a document: "Demon—"

Li Yubai slightly lifted his eyelids and glanced at him.

The elder immediately felt a chill run down his spine, and he quickly changed his words: "Former...former master, the clan has received your donation of fifty million. This is far too much, and I have come on behalf of the vampire clan to express my gratitude."

Jiang Shu: "You've come to thank me empty-handed?"

The elder looked at Jiang Shu gently and said, "We will use most of the funds to build a villa just like yours now, and the villa will be registered in the names of Jiang Shu and the former master."

Jiang Shu laughed in exasperation: "So, after all this time, you're still trying to find a way to get me to join your clan."

The Grand Elder showed no embarrassment: "That place was originally another home for you and your former master."

Jiang Shu nodded and said, "Where is Li Yubai from? If he wants to go home to visit in the future, I will go back with him."

Li Yubai's gentle gaze swept over Jiang Shu's face, then he placed a handful of melon seeds in her palm: "Mm."

He looked at the Grand Elder, his gaze turning somewhat indifferent: "The Qingcheng Villa cost 300 million to build. Are you sure you can build something like this for 50 million?"

The elder was momentarily stunned: "Building houses is so expensive now? A commoner's house for a vampire only costs three hundred to build."

Jiang Shu: "...You mean those mud bricks I saw last time?"

“Yes, we can use local materials, forests and soil are enough. We only need to spend a few hundred to buy some furniture—actually, we don’t even need to. Our people often just lie down on the ground and that’s it.” The elder had a good plan. “So, we originally planned to use 30 million of the 50 million to build houses for the old master, and the other 20 million would be enough for the infrastructure of our tens of thousands of people.”

Jiang Shu didn't know what to say, so she looked at Li Yubai again.

Li Yubai remained calm: "There's no need to build those mud-brick houses from hundreds of years ago. Instead, build commercial housing in the style of urban developments."

The Grand Elder, who had initially worried that fifty million was too much and that he wouldn't be able to spend it all, now felt that the money was just a drop in the ocean and asked with a forced smile, "How much... how much is a commercial apartment building?"

Jiang Shu was very qualified to speak on this matter: "I've done my research. Housing prices are greatly influenced by location. For example, Li Yubai's villas cost over a billion yuan to build. For ordinary commercial housing, the price is around 100,000 to 200,000 yuan per square meter in Beijing, but in a small place like Jiangcheng, it's only around 10,000 yuan per square meter. I'm talking about the purchase price. If you build it yourself, it won't cost that much. In places like Piaomiaozhou, the cost will be even lower."

The elder picked up a piece of paper and buried himself in calculations for a while. When he looked at Li Yubai again, the pleading and despair in his eyes were impossible to hide.

"Demon—former master, I beg you, please allow us to build houses using adobe bricks! Our people have been living in caves for several days, crammed together, without any complaints whatsoever. We are already quite satisfied with adobe bricks from hundreds of years ago!"